Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of processing a wafer which is formed on a front side thereof with a plurality of division lines in a crossing pattern and in which a plurality of devices are formed in a plurality of regions partitioned by the division lines.
Description of the Related Art
In the semiconductor device manufacturing process, for example, devices such as integrated circuits (ICs) and large-scale integrations (LSIs) are formed in a plurality of regions partitioned by division lines formed in a crossing pattern on a front side of a substantially disk-shaped wafer, and the regions formed with the devices are divided along the division lines, to produce individual device chips. Meanwhile, the wafer is generally subjected to grinding of the back side by a grinding apparatus to have a predetermined thickness before the division into the individual device chips.
The grinding apparatus includes grinding means and grinding feeding means. The grinding means includes a chuck table having a holding surface for holding the wafer thereon, and a grinding wheel for grinding an upper side of the wafer held on the chuck table. The grinding feeding means moves the grinding means in a direction perpendicular to the holding surface of the workpiece holding means. A protective member is adhered to the front side of the wafer by a bond material such as a wax in order to protect the devices, the protective member together with the wafer fixed thereon is placed on the holding surface of the chuck table, and the back side of the wafer is ground by the grinding means to make the wafer have a predetermined thickness (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 1998-50642, 2010-219461, and 2012-160515).